Nuclear Threat and Disaster Management

Workshop on “Best International Practices In Building Resilient Cities,” Bangalore August 5-7, 2013

Dr. L.V. Krishnan, Adjunct Faculty, NIAS, Bangalore

Dr. Jai Asundi, Principal Research Scientist, CSTEP, Bangalore

Commentators speak of two types of nuclear threat. Attack with a stockpile nuclear weapon by an adversary State during a conflict is one of them. This would most probably be set off high above the ground to maximise damage. It may not be a solitary attack. Surprise attack by a terror group with an improvised device is another possibility. This is likely to be of a lower yield and explode at ground level. There are significant differences between the two. Many reports have been published about the likely mass casualties in the event of a nuclear explosion.

Our focus here is on the management of the consequences to facilitate early rescue and recovery.